Sweet Tooth Stories: Manny Maplelog
by HardWrapping
Summary: A series of stories based off OC's from my Sugar Rush: Rival Racing story: Manny rarely got time to relax, and today he was supposed to be enjoying his day off. Instead he finds himself up in a cave with one of his least favorite people. Words are exchanged, and they settle some issues.


Manny laid down lazily on a tree branch, his hat tipped over his face, and holding a bottle of maple syrup in his hand. Today was his off day. A day he had come up for himself. Despite what most people thought, Manny had a lot of responsibilities. If Larry was Jimmy's right hand man, then he was his left. Adding his responsibilities with looking after Dough, and he was a fairly busy guy.

So every now and then he would take a day off. No royal responsibilities, no looking after Dough, no nothing. He just sat back and relaxed. Jimmy never bothered him about it, he knew how royal duties could be stressful, and he wasn't even going to imagine what it was like having to look after Dough.

He took a few gulps from his bottle of maple syrup, and then belched. Being alone every once in a while was nice. Sure he enjoyed having Dough around, his was practically his brother, and he hung out with Jimmy and Larry a lot too. But just being by yourself, having some time to clear your head, and relaxing was nice.

A snowball suddenly broke him from his thoughts. He shook his head and then glared down towards whoever dared interrupt his day off. He was greeted a smirking Snowanna, who was tossing a snowball up and down in her hand. He scowled. "Snow-fro. What do you want?"

She rolled her eyes and then threw another snowball at him. He ducked this time barely avoiding it. "I just wanted to know if you were still alive up there."

He smirked. "Oh, so you do care."

"Hardly. I just need someone to make fun of around here. I mean, I have Candlehead, but where's the fun in that." She said leaning against the tree. "So, you going to tell me what your doing sitting in a tree? Or is that just a thing?"

Manny sat up. "What am I doing here? I'm more curious about what you're doing here. Isn't there territory technically our side of the border?" He asked gesturing to the Frosty Forest. It was strange how over here it was nice and sunny, but a mere ten feet away was a cold tundra.

Snowanna held up a price of snow. "The Frosty Forest is the best place to collect snow for my snow cones. Nice, fresh, and clean." She said scooping up a handful of snow.

Manny smirked. "Oh, you actually make snow cones? That's honestly a surprise. I didn't think you had any culinary skills at all."

She scoffed and then picked up another snowball, preparing to hurl it at him. When she stood back up however, Manny was already in front of her. She gasped and nearly fell back, but he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Snowanna blushed slightly, and Manny smirked. "You know Afro, if you really wanted to see me that bad, you could have just asked." He said pulling her closer.

She stared at him for a few seconds, and then leaned towards him. Manny looked a bit surprised. Was she about to kiss him? Suddenly she shoved the snowball into his face. "In your dreams Maplelog." She said moving his arm from around her. "I'm into guys a little less… sticky."

Manny wiped the snow from his face and frowned. "You know, shoving snowballs in people's faces isn't exactly lady like." He said annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe I should just scurry on back home so I can cook and clean something, like a good little girl." She said sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Would be more useful." Manny said smirking.

She glared at him and then turned around preparing to walk away. "Whatever, you just keep lounging around lazily in that tree, like a real man." She said sarcastically.

Manny looked after her. He had always found Snowanna annoying, but for different reasons that he let on. He wasn't childish enough not to admit he liked her. Well, he wouldn't admit it out loud, but to himself.

She was different from all the other girls he dealt with. Usually when he shot an insult at Cindy or Tea, they would just call him a jerk and go on their way. But Snowanna never let him get away with anything. And while that annoyed him, he found himself drawn to it.

He began making his way back up the tree, but then heard something. He whipped his head around and listened closely. It sounded like footsteps, quick footsteps. Whatever it was, it was coming fast. He notched an arrow and turned around, seeing three figures about fifty yard away.

The figures looked almost ape like, and were covered in white fur. He looked at them more closely, and then noticed something. One of them was holding Snowanna in its hand. He grew wide eyed and then quickly fire his arrow at the creature. The arrow went flying and hit the creature in the shoulder. It let out a screech, but kept its hold on Snowanna.

He scowled and ran after the three animals. He notched more arrows and fired at them. "Hey you stupid apes! Give her back!" He yelled. He fired again, but the creature swung its tail knocking the arrow out of the air. "Stop!" Manny shouted shooting again.

Once again his arrows were knocked out of the air. The creatures eventually got too far ahead, and out of his range of fire. He stopped and then glared after them. They were headed towards the Frosty Falls. He looked back towards the castle wondering if he should tell Jimmy and get some back up.

He sighed knowing that it would be too late. Besides, he was fast on his own. He began making his way up the mountain. He would just have to find those things, hopefully get Snowanna without too much of a fight, and bring her back.

As he ran up after the apes, he noticed their footsteps getting lighter and lighter, then eventually vanished altogether. They were moving through the trees now. He looked up using some bent and broken branches to track them instead. If he was lucky he would be able to catch them before they reached the top.

Suddenly a large figure landed in front of him. It was one of the apes. He aimed an arrow at it, but it swung its tail knocking him back. Before he could get up, it stood over him and then roared loudly in his face. Manny crawled backwards and found himself pinned against a tree.

The ape glared at him and grunted before turning around and kicking some snow in his face. It then turned around and began walking away. Manny watched it leave and panted nervously. That thing could have totally ended him just now. Why it didn't was a mystery. Maybe it just wanted to warn him, or maybe it just didn't feel like it.

Either way, this was way too dangerous. If one managed to beat him that easily, then what would he do when he ran into the whole pack. He looked behind him and back towards the castle. Maybe he should just head back. This was way out of his league.

A image of Snowanna flashed through his mind. He growled and gripped his bow. This was crazy, it was practically suicide. Why did he even care about her? He stood up began walking forward. "Stupid afro…"

He began moving forward again, not believing he was actually putting his life on the line for her of all people. Why couldn't he just be a jerk like he always was and leave her be? He notched a few arrows just in case anymore were around and kept making his way upwards.

Eventually he came to a small cave where he assumed they were all hiding in. He peerked inside and then saw a group of them. They were on the ground wrestling with one another, but they looked like they were just playing. It almost reminded him of the twins. There was no way he was going to sneak past them. And he knew fighting them was pointless.

So he did the only thing he could think off. He ran inside flailing his arms and yelling as loudly as he could. The apes looked stunned for a moment, and that moment was enough for him to run right past them. They all looked at each other, and then began screeching and chasing after him. Manny kept running as fast as he could.

He passed by more apes, who also began chasing them. A few of them swung at him, and he managed to jumped and dodge them. Though he was sure he was moving more out of fear than bravery. He saw a light up ahead, and quickly made his way towards it. He had no idea if she was there or not, but anywhere was better than here.

Once he reached the light, he came sliding to a stop. This place looked like… a hot spring. "What in the…" He looked around and then spotted Snowanna. She was sitting in the water with a relaxed look on her face. "Afro!"

She opened her eyes and looked surprised, and then sank deeper into the water. "Manny, what are you doing here?!" She asked quickly. She could see that his face was full of panic, and he was sweating bullets. It was very unlike him.

Manny had to take a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "What I'm doing, against my better judgment, is rescuing you!" He said reaching down into the water. He grabbed her arm but she quickly pulled away from him. "What are you-?!" He then realized Snowanna wasn't wearing any clothes. He quickly backed away. "Why are you naked?!"

Snowanna blushed and sank even deeper. "No one ever comes up here!"

Manny shook his head. "What the fudge is going on?!" He said in disbelief. He heard screeching behind him, and then scowled. "Crap! Look, I don't know what going on and I don't care! We need to get going before those thing corner us!"

Snowanna looked confused. "Wait a second! They're not-" One of the apes came in and then grabbed Manny from behind. He held him up and roared loudly in his face. Manny struggled to break free as the ape tightened its hold. "Stop it!" Snowanna shouted. The ape suddenly stopped, and Manny opened his eyes confused. "Put him down right now!"

The ape grunted and then dropped Manny onto the ground. He landed on his back, and then quickly sat up. "What the fudge?! How did you do that?!"

Snowanna sighed, and then raised her hand and waved the apes off. Most of them left, but the ones closest to Manny growled. "He's fine, just step outside." The ape turned around and then walked out. Manny turned towards her, jaw dropped.

"Wha… so, you wanna tell me what that was about?"

"I came up here a few months ago and found these hot springs. I come up here to relax sometimes. A few weeks ago those apes came along. They're not violent, not unless their provoked."

He scowled. Not violent? Could have fooled him. "They listen to you?"

She was silent for a moment. "Some of them… sometimes. They have some kind of system or whatever, and I guess I'm ranked pretty high, so most of them listen to me. But there are a handful who usually just brush me off. Be glad you didn't run into one of them."

"Lucky me…" He muttered. He then took his hat off and began walking towards the water.

She looked confused. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting in. It's my day off, and I'm supposed to be relaxing. Instead, I'm here with you, so I'm gonna make the best of it." He said taking his shirt off. "Hope you don't mind."

She blushed slightly but just turned away. "I could care less." She drifted behind a nearby rock so he couldn't peek at her.

He got into the water and then cracked his neck. A hot spring was now how he had planned to spend his day, but he wasn't going to waste the rest of it. "This is a nice find afro."

"Yeah, MY find. What are you doing here? I didn't think anyone would be able to find this place, besides Beezy. She's the only other one who can stand the cold long enough to get up here."

Manny was caught off guard by the question. "I… saw those apes and followed them. I thought they might be a threat, and wanted to see what they were up to." He lied.

Snowanna looked at him for a moment, and then grew a sly smile. "You saw them carrying me up here, and you thought I was in danger." She said causing him to cringe. "You came up here to rescue me." She said with amusement.

"Did not…"

"You did." She said laughing. "Aw, was little Manny scared that the big bad apes were gonna hurt me? Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Ugh. I just didn't want Jimmy or Vanellope on my back if you got eaten, okay?" He snapped. "I'm starting to wish you had."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You just wanted to pay the knight in shining armor."

"If I was a knight, I'd want a better looking princess than you."

"Would you just admit that you were worried about me?"

"I wasn't."

"You're such a baby." She said rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"You like me, and you're just too stubborn to admit it."

"I do NOT like you! In fact, I'm pretty sure I hate you."

"If you hated me you'd never have come to rescue me. You act like you're so much more mature than the other guys, but you can't even admit that you like a girl." She said smugly. "And I bet it's just so infuriating that of all the girls you like, it's me."

Manny gritted. "Let me get this straight right now! Even if I did like you, which I'm not saying I do, I'm not gonna go acting like some love struck puppy! I'm not Jimmy or Larry, I don't wear my heart I'm my sleeve! You got a problem with that, too bad!"

Snowanna crossed her arms. "You are such a dork."

They sat in the water in silence for a moment. Manny suddenly took a deep breath and then went under the water. He crossed his arms and just thought. Why in the world did he like this girl? She was annoying, like really annoying. But no matter how much she ticked him off, he still found himself attracted to her.

He never saw himself falling for a girl. Not one like her anyway. He always figured he'd just spend his days making sure Dough didn't hurt himself, racing, and spending what little time he had in between relaxing. She had to go and through a monkey wrench in the plan. He came back up and then took a deep breath.

"Hey Afro." He said drifting over towards the rock she was behind. He turned and placed his back against it.

"What?"

"Do you like me?" There was silence.

"No."

He smirked. "Oh, and I'm the one in denial?" He said chuckling. "Isn't it a little unfair to accuse me of being immature when you're doing to same thing?"

Snowanna looked annoyed. "Fine. I might like you a little. But if you weren't such a macho, chauvinistic, pig headed jerk, then maybe I'd like you a little more."

Manny scowled. "Will, maybe if you weren't such uppity, sassy, little brat, then I'd like you a little more."

"Don't act like I'm not the one with the problem here. You're always talking down not just got me, but the other girls too. If you were part of Vanellope's kingdom she'd have had you put in the fungeon."

Manny narrowed his eyes, but frowned. "Okay, maybe it seems like I'm a little… unfair towards girls. But the only girls I've ever known are Tea, who pretty much does nothing but cook and clean, and Cindy, who's honestly just a loud mouth brat. I don't have any experience with girls outside of that criteria."

"Well, I don't cook or clean, and I'm not a loud mouthed brat. So you better stop treating me with some respect."

He sighed. They weren't even dating and she was nagging him out like she was his girlfriend or something. "You're right, I'm sorry. You're not either of them, so I shouldn't treat you like it… this doesn't mean we have to stop teasing each other, does it?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." She said giggling.

After a few minutes, they got out and got dressed. They made their way back down the mountain, and when they reached the border, they turned and faced each other. "I guess this is where we split up. Try not to get into trouble Snowfro."

She smirked at him. "Be sure to follow your own advice." She said leaning forward. She lifted his chin and then kissed him on the cheek. Manny stood there stunned as Snowanna turned to leave. "And don't go trying to play hero again. You may get yourself killed."

He watched as she leaved and then rubbed his cheek. Why in the world did girls have to be so confusing? Why did she have to be the worst of them all? "I have terrible taste in women…" He muttered as he walked off.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, not my longest or most detailed story, but I honestly couldn't think of a whole story for Manny. It's not that I didn't try, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to get the creative juices going. So I settled on a little Manny/Snowanna fluff. Hope you guys like it.**


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